He put some into the calf's plate

THERE WAS ONCE A Native Chief who had three wives, but none of them had borne him a son.  He longed for one very much.  One day he had to go away to take up a new post.  As he was leaving, his eldest wife said, "When you return, I will offer you gold."  The second wife said, "I will offer you silver."  But the third wife said, "I will offer you a son."  The husband was delighted, but the two other wives were very jealous.

        When the third wife really bore a son, the eldest wife tied up her head in a red cloth and bandaged her eyes.  The second wife banged a gong so loud that the third wife swooned.  When she woke up and asked for her child, the two other wives deceived her.  "You did not bear a child," they said.  "It was only a horrible lump of flesh."  Actually she had borne a beautiful strong son, but while she was unconscious, the eldest wife had thrown it into the botung (pond) to drown.  It was unsuccessful.  The child only floated on top of the water and refused to sink.  Then the second wife thought of another plan.  They collected some straw and grass, wrapped the child in it, and gave the whole bundle to an old water buffalo, who swallowed it at once, much to the satisfaction and relief of the two women.

        When the Native Chief returned, the eldest wife gave him the gold, the second wife the slver, but the third wife was ashamed to appear before him.  He asked why she did not bring her son to show him.  The two wives explained that she had only borne alump of flesh and did not dare to appear.  When the disappointed husband heard this, he went into a rage and ordered that in future, she had to grind rice in the mill as a punishment for the disaster.  Thereafter she attended to the rice, and tears ran down her cheeks everyday.

        Soon the old water buffalo gave birth to a beautiful round glossy calf with golden skin as smooth as silk.  Everyone that saw it fell in love with it.  The whole day it ran around its master, rubbed against his clothes, stroked him with its horns, and was very affectionate.  The Chief always gave it some of his food, and the calf bowed its thanks just as if it were a child.

        One day, when the Native Chief was eating sago he put some into the calf's plate, and said to it, "If you truly understand the human voice and human speech, take these sago and carry them to your mother."  The calf slowly pushed the plate along with its two forefeet.  Everyone thought it would push it into the old cow's stall; instead, it went towards the mill where the repudiated third wife was working dand dropped it at her feet.  Both the Native Chief and his third wife were very surprised, but the other two wives said to each other, "This pretty little calf is obviously the child in disguise."

        Shortly after this, the eldest wife pretended to be very ill and declared that she could eat nothing except the liver of the little calf.  The second wife also took to her bed and declared that she must have the skin of the little calf to cover her.  The Native Chief wanted to spare his beloved little kerbau, but rthe eldest wife screamed, "I am going to die, and only the liver of the calf can cure me."  The second cried, "I am going to die, and only the skin of the calf can save me."  But the Native Chief was determined to spare the calf at all costs, and so he let it loose in the hills and bought another calf, which he had killed instead.  The moment the eldest wife had eaten the liver, and the second wife had the skin to cover her, they were cured.  But the Native Chief could not help mourning for his lost calf.

        Now a certain young woman named Sumandak was looking for a suitor.  She had it announced that  on a certain day, and at a certain time, she would throw a coloured rottan ball down from her house, and that whoever caught it would become her husband.  But strangely enpough, the coloured rottan ball did not touch this man or that man but fell straight onto a horn of the little calf.  The young lady said with a sight, "Even a beggar is a man, but to have an animal!"  But since she had made the announcement beforehand, she could not break her word.  She hung the wedding robes on the horns of the calf and let it run in front.  But no one could run as fast as the calf, and before long the young lady was half a mile behind.  She saw it take off the wedding dress beside a large pool of water and then jumped in.  When she herself arrived at the pool, the was no sign of the calf but only a handsome young man in a wedding robe.  The young man signalled to her to follow him, but Sumandak said, "I can't go with you.  Imust look for my calf."  Then the young man told her that he was the transformed calf, and that if she did not believe him she could see the skin lying in the water.  The skin was really there, and the young lady was delighted.

        The young man led Sumandak to his parents' house, but when they arrived it was already dark and the doors were locked.  He knocked, and called out, "Father, open the door, your son has arrived."  But the father cried from inside, "Who is calling me father?  I have no son.  You must have made a mistake."  "No," answered the young man, "I am not mistaken.  I am the child that my mother long ago said she would present to you when you returned home.  I was turned into a calf, but now I am a man again."  He told everything that had happened to him.

His father was happier than ever before in his life, but at the same time he flew into a terrible rage.  He ordered the two oler wives to be slain at once, and it was only at the request of his son that he consented to pardon them.  He then sent his son to fetch his mother from the mill.  From then on, the mill ceased to work and the youngest wife returned to her husband.